Switch to wider Huey P. Long Bridge lanes coming Sunday

State transportation officials will hold a news conference on the Huey P. Long Bridge today to announce a traffic switch this weekend to new lanes while the old lanes are demolished and rebuilt as part of the $1.2 billion bridge widening project.

Traffic on the Huey P. Long Bridge will shift to new wider lanes Sunday while the old lanes are demolished and rebuilt.

The two temporary 10-foot-wide lanes in each direction will be a foot wider than the existing lanes, giving motorists a little more room on the notoriously narrow Depression-era span.

When the project is completed next year, the bridge will have three 11-foot lanes in each direction, with an 8-foot outside shoulder and a 2-foot inside shoulder.

State transportation secretary Sherri LeBas will discuss the traffic change dubbed the "Big Switch" at a 10 a.m. news conference followed by an inaugural trip over the new lanes with local officials.